Description: (Applicant's Description) The Animal Facility provides care for, and ensures the ethical use of, all research animals used at the Institute. Species include mice (transgenic, gene knockout, mutant, athymic nude Scid, and axenic strains), rats, rabbits, and Xenopus laevis. The Animal Facility staff conducts almost all procedures on animals, especially those that are routine in nature, following instructions of the principal investigator. Animal Facility technicians are able to perform procedures such as blood sample collection, injections, tumor inoculation, perfusions, surgical recovery of oocytes, gavaging, tail biopsies, and ear notching. The Facility maintains the pedigrees for all lines of transgenic mice held at the Institute. This centralized system frees the Investigator from having to hire and train technicians to perform these routine procedure and husbandry tasks, and results in a service that is very efficient. This facility has been accredited by the American Association for Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) since 1988.